Improvement in suspension bath-tents



HORATIO N. TAFT, OF SAG HARBOR, NEW YORK.

Letters Patent `N0. 101,678, dated April 5, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN SUSPENSION BATH-TENTS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part 0f the same To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known 'that I, HoRATro N. TAFT, of Sag Harbor, in the county of Suffolk and State of New York, have invented a new and useful-Improvement in Portable Suspension Bath-Tent; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming v`part of this specification.

The object of this invention is to provide suitable and convenient means for bathing in either vapor or hot air, or water, either hot or cold; and

It consists in a collapsible suspension tent with a water-tight bottom, andleither with or without a water basin or reservoir at the top, made collapsible longitudinally or otherwise, and suspended from some suitably elevated point, constructed and arranged so that it may be collapsed either by dropping the top down or raising the bottom up to or near the top, or to a more elevated point, so that the bath may be, when not in use, above the heads of the inmates of the dwelling and out ofthe way, the same being suspended by means of a cord or cords and pulleys, or otherwise, as hereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 represents the bath as when let down or ready for use, and resting on the door.

Figure 2 represents it when collapsed and elevated.

Similar letters of reference. indicate corresponding parts.

A is the bottom, which is a shallow pan made of sheet metal, or of wood, or rubber, or of any suitable material, and water-tight. It may bc in any form in cross-sections and of any desired diameter and height, for instance, six feet in height, and two and a half feet in diameter, more or less.

To the rim B or to the bottom near the rim, 1 attach the tent-cloth O, made of any suitable textile or other pliable or yielding material, or of a series of hoops or rings of metal, wood, or other material, so arranged as to close together or allow the tent to collapse. I prefer the cloth, which extends up or is of suthcient length to admit a person through a slit in one side a-fter the manner of an ordinary tield tent. At the top, the tent-cloth or material may be attached to a water reservoir, D, or to a simple plate, or it may be made tight at the 'top by gathering, or by reducing the di ameter in any manner, or a iiat top may be made of any material, from the center or other part of which, the. bath maybe suspended or supported.

To keep thetent-cloth distended to the desired diameter in any portion thereof, I apply hoops or bands of either wood, metal, or other suitable material, either on the inner or outer side, and in any desired number.

These hands may be of different diameters, so placed that the side of the tent will be of a zigzag form for more convenient folding together when the bathl is collapsed, after the manner ofthe Chinese lantern.

In this example of my invention, I show a waterbasin, D, on top of the bath, from which water may be used for a shower or spray bath, the proper valve or cock with the ordinary perforated rose head, attached to its lower` part.

The cord E, by which the bath is suspended, is attached to the upper part of the basin, it may be in two parts, and attached to any part of the tent. This cord passes over a pulley, F, connected with the ceiling G of the room, or with a bracket attached to the wall H with a swinging crane or arm, or with any other suitable fixture or object, sufficiently elevated to not only allow the bath to be distended its whole length where the bottom rests on the door I, as seen in tig. 1,but so elevated that when the bottom is raised and thebath collapsed, as seen in iig. 2 it may be elevated still more, so as to be entirely above the heads of the roccupants of the room. The bottom or pan A may be drawn up, and the bath thus collapsed in various ways. In this instance a cord, J, is attached to 'each side of the pan A, which cords pass upward and over pulleys K, and are connected together, as seen at L. By taking hold at the point L and drawing down, the bottom will be elevated and the bath collapsed, and after being collapsed the whole may be still more elevated, as before mentioned.

The same thing may be done with a Single cord, with a device for hooking or coupling the topof the tent, or the basin, to the bottom or pan A. I do not confine myself to any particular device for this purpose.

In lowering thc basin for putting in water, the cord E is loosened when the top and basin may be dropped into the pan if desired, which collapses the bath upon the Hoor. In this condition it may be removed for transportation or other purposes.

Instead of fastening the cord or cords to the wall, as represented, the tent may be balanced by weights, or a weight either for supporting the top and tentcloth, br for elevating the bottom or pan, or for supporting the entire hath when it is elevated, as seen in When the. bath is distended and resting on the door, as seen in tig. 1, and provided with the water basin, a shower or spray bath may be taken, with water at any desired temperature. Either with or without the water basin, the tent is readily made a tight apartment by properly securing the entrance, when a steam or vapor bath may be taken, as well as a hot-air bath.-

Vater may be vaporized within the bath by means of a spirit or other lamp, so that the tent will be filled in avery few minutes.

' -ular Turkish bath may be taken.

Fresh air for the bather may be drawn through a tube or through the water basin, or it may be forced in or introduced by' any other suitable method. Air

may be heated by means of a lamp, anda suitable apparatus within the tent, or steam may be generated and air heated by meansof a common stove boiler, and air-heating apparatus on a stove.

The stove may be introduced into the tent by means v of a tube, and the heated air may be either forced in vor drawn in by a pump or any other suitable apparatus.

By means of the heated air and water basin, a re'g- Without the water basin D, water may be introduced in a separate vessel, a. common pail for instance, for bathing or washing the body. For curing colds or rheumatism and other diseases, the benets of the hot-air and vapor baths have long been known and understood where such bathing facilities exist.

not interfere with the room or occupy space required for other purposes when not required for immediate use. These baths are very easily attached to the ceiling in any room or apartment,a hook or pulley-shank being screwed into the ceiling, or` a bracket or arm fastened to the wall. It is readily removed from one apartment to another, and may be packed for transportation in a very small space.

` Having thus described my invention,

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A bath or bathing-tent, having a basin or pan at its base, and constructed so 'as to collapse by either raising or lowering, when supported or suspended from above the heads of .the occupants or inmates of an apartment, so'that when so suspended it shall be out of the way, and supported in such a manner that it shall distend in the act of lowering, and be ready for use, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In combination with a bathor tent made collapsible by either raising or lowering, as above, the water basin or reservoir D, substantially as and for the purposes herein shown and described.

H.l N. TAFT.

Witnesses:

A. BENNERKENDORF, JOHN W. JACKSON. 

